On Nov 5th, in cooperation with the Authority for the Economic Development of the Minority Sectors and the OECD, INJAZ Center for Professional Arab Local Government hosted Arab municipal government representatives at a conference focused on economic development in Israel’s Arab localities.
INJAZ presented a model that empowers local authorities in the development process, encourages entrepreneurial management approach, characterizes capability, inexpensive and effective way to determine needs, and creates a detailed action plan. This model includes both recommended actions as well as measurable indicators for monitoring success.
CEO of INJAZ, Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi, emphasized that “we are not only dealing with economic development, but we also work to increase awareness among the Arab public, and among mayors in particular, about the importance of good governance. We give mayors tools to develop administrative transparency and non-political appointments. Fortunately, there is a growing awareness of this issue among mayors, and the Interior Ministry has been working on tighter regulation to enforce these matters.”
The conference included presentations by Shawki Khatib, Injaz Chairman, former Head of the National Committee for Arab Local Councils, Ms. Debra Mountford, Senior Policy Analyst, LEED Programmer, OECD, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development (CFE).
Dr. Shoki Amrani – Head of the Israeli government Task-Force on Economic Development in Arab local authorities and Former Minister of the Interior, reported on the Task Force’s progress and recommendations, stressing that these recommendations must be culturally sensitive to fit Arab localities, and can only be implemented if the three major players in the field, namely, the government, the local authorities and private businesses, have an interest around this issue.